After learning of friend’s death, PGA Tour pro made an ace at Houston Open: ‘Maybe he was looking down’

HOUSTON — Chan Kim will never forget his round Friday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open.

Thursday night, Kim learned one of his longtime friends from high school died.

“We were on the same golf team,” Kim said. “Both him and his brother I’ve known for a while. We actually just played some golf when I was home before Mexico. And we normally game a lot, so I’m a big Call of Duty fan, so we literally played the week of the Players.

“Yeah, it was just kind of sudden, didn’t really get any notice of it until last night. Yeah, like I said, today was kind of a special round. Regardless of how it went, it was nice to play for something a little bit more than just myself.”

Kim got off to an excellent start. He was 2 under thru 8 holes Friday morning when he stepped to the tee of the par-3 ninth at Memorial Park Golf Course and pulled a wedge from 157 yards. One hop later, the ball disappeared. It was Kim’s first ace on Tour.

“I just would have thought that maybe he was looking down, you know, just trying to give me a miracle,” Kim said. “Yeah, definitely needed all of it. I’m happy of the result today, for sure.”

“I hit wedge, and it worked out.” 😂 https://t.co/qld4L02cO9 pic.twitter.com/6uFlfW1XqW

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 29, 2024

The hole-in-one helped Kim turn in a 4-under 31. He shot 3 under on Friday and will make the weekend, sitting at 2 under for the tournament.

The ace was also special because of one Kim, a Tour rookie, nearly had earlier this season.

“I feel like obviously getting a hole-in-one is very, very lucky, but I feel like the Tour kind of owed me one because I flew one in on 11 at Sony and it popped out 60 feet and ended up three-putting for bogey,” Kim said. “I felt like I was owed one, for sure.”